Justice Secretary Liz Truss also announced new jails will be built at three existing prison sites – Full Sutton in Yorkshire, Hindley in Wigan, Rochester in Kent – as part of a pledge to create up to 10,000 modern prison places by 2020.

The Baglan site is expected to create 200 new long-term jobs once it has been completed while the construction will lead to around 1,000 jobs.

The Ministry of Justice said final decisions on the new jails would be subject to planning approval, value for money and affordability.

The announcement is the latest step in a £1.3bn revamp of the estate first launched under Ms Truss’s predecessor, Michael Gove, amid concerns a number of facilities were overcrowded and run-down.

As part of the modernisation drive £250m ‘super-prison’ HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, which can hold more than 2,000 inmates, opened earlier this year.

Berwyn of course was not built to server the need of Wales but of England (masquerading as the UK) Unionist politicians gave the plans a cautious welcome, withAberavonMPStephen Kinnocksaying:

“The building of a prison in Port Talbot would bring much-needed construction work to the local area and in the long term would mean more jobs for the day-to-day running of the prison.“However we will need to look very closely at the planning application to ensure that it is sited in a suitable location, that local people and skills are utilised, and that local materials are central to the construction of the site.

“The Ministry of Justice must provide further information because the community must be on board. The onus is on the government to reach out and engage with us.“But if these necessary safeguards are in place, and the community is part of the decision-making and construction process, then this is something that should be welcomed because the project could be a welcome boost for the local community and economy.”

Such is the poverty under their of Wales that Unionist Politicians here will tug thier forelocks and accept anything that provides a few jobs

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

"I am delighted that Port Talbot has been selected as a preferred location for one of the four newest additions to the UK's prisons estate."Berwyn prison has already had a positive impact on the regional economy of North Wales."A new South Wales prison will bring its own economic opportunities - including new jobs and contracts for local suppliers, and will significantly accelerate the government’s aim of replacing old, uneconomic prisons with modern, more cost-effective facilities.“I am pleased that Wales is leading the way in providing facilities designed with rehabilitation in mind as well as the traditional security which the public rightly expects.”

If it was the case as in Scotland where we the Welsh Assembly were in charge of Prisons then we would not have built Berwyn nor the proposed Baglan Prison but worked out our own policyBut Labout and Tory Unionist have resisted the devolution of Criminal Justice happy to see Wales treated as a Colony.

"Building a new prison in isolation to looking at new ways of helping to ensure people do not re-offend and to realise the error of their actions, and addressing why so many people with mental health problems are in prison, is a sign of bad government and poor strategy from the Tories."We need to look at prison reform, not just build new prisons and assume that it is the only answer. So I cannot warmly welcome this news today."Plaid Cymru has been calling for the devolution of these matters for some time. Decisions about Wales, for Welsh prisoners, should be made in Wales."The Ministry of Justice must answer key questions on this scheme. It's vital that the safety of the local community will not be compromised by this plan.There is a new super school in Baglan, and a new Welsh Language School is yet to be developed there."The area already has huge traffic problems that the Council are failing to deal with. What will throwing a prison in the mix mean?'

"Plaid Cymru has been critical of the HMP Berwyn superprison in Wrexham due its disproportionately large size and in particular, the pressure the huge number of inmates may put on the local NHS and other services."If this is to go ahead, assurances are needed on private sector involvement in the proposed Port Talbot prison. Evidence shows that when private companies are contracted to be responsible for prison security, the safety of both staff and inmates is compromised. This must not be allowed to happen."In the long run, Plaid Cymru remains committed to the devolution of the prison estate alongside the wider justice system."

These new figures published today follow the announcement of plans to build a new Category C prison in Port Talbot for up to 1,600 prisoners, as reported by BBC Wales News online.

The analysis by the Wales Governance Centre show that based on the current use of Welsh prisons against the total number of Welsh prisoners currently in the prison system, Wales will have a surplus of almost 2400 places (2387) once the Port Talbot prison is fully operational.

The data shows that even if HMP Cardiff closed as a result of the UK Government’s announcement, Wales would still have a prison place surplus of over 1600 places based on the current use of the prison estate in Wales against the total number of Welsh prisoners.

Its time we said no to this plan are we so subdued and lacking in vision that we accept this insult.